Show < N 1 t tMARl CRAwrORD W ON FPD I lTHtlJ7 Of JMACtr < 5eI frRD7IUMElror ffir 1r Will O w JSJIT 1007 ay J JRR1t7Jy ORdSWpVRD o II I I t 0 I 1 1 l i I l y J J You Will Never Understand She Said SYNOPSIS ikn a Tartar girl became enamored golden bearded stranger who was tctlnu and studying herbs in they the-y of her home In central Asia and Hod to him the location of a mine fries I hoping that tho stranger would Tier In return for her disclosure were followed to the cavo by the relatives who blocked up the en anti drew oft the water supply the couple to die Barakas cousin her betrothed attempted to climb la cliff overlooking the mine but hveler shot him The stranger wasH was-H from a water gourd Saud car I UK his way out of the tunnel and led deserting tho girl and carrying lot rubles Itaraka gathered all the ie could carry anti started In pur I Margaret Donne Margarita Ia ya a famous prima ilonna became d In London to Konstantln Io o wealthy beck tlnancler Her te friend was Countess Leven as Lady Maud whoso husband ion killed by a bomb In St Peters l and Lady Mauds most Intimate was Rufus Van Torp an Amen flio had hrcomo ono of the richest the world Van Torp was In love Jlargaret and rushed to London ass as-s lie heard of her betrothal Ho Lady Maud 3000000 for her pet Iet If she would aid him In winning Hler from Ingothetl Unrikn ap pod Logothetl at Versailles with to Bill 1 Hu presented a ruby to ret Van Torp bought u yacht and It to Venice I IIo was visited by ii In male attire She gave him a fitter the American had told her ol seen In tho United States a 1111111 ring the description of the one she The American followed Margaret I nnyieuth Iarslfal festival Mar Book a liking to Van Torp who pre I her with the ruby Haraka had Mm Count Krallnsky a Russian I Jl at Hayreuth Van Tnrp bellevei ho the ono Haraka wns pursuing i was arrested In London on the of stealing from 1lnney u Jew Pie ruby she had sold to Logothetl trancvra worn the thieves Lad > JMIeved that Logothetls assocla Till Daraka were open to suspl Imil so Informed Margaret Van I ovid that Krallnsky was tin I K he had known In his young man I Losothed secured Ilarakas re jnnd hen with her as his guest a 1 sea < on his yacht Krlnna CHAPTER XContinued < Iliad been on deck a long time fay but Haraka had only been shed in her chair a few mln As yet he had hardly talked jiier ol anything but tho neces I reparations for the journey and d trusted him entirely being so out with fatigue and bodily dist I dis-t that she was already half win a 1 ho had at last brought e oanl are on the previous night the yaebt hud sailed he had re I Van I Iurps telegram Informing at Krlmsky was at Hayreuth dG fccntury had sat up till two IIIWD oe to telegraph him tho UI nil forward any message t one ml Van Torps had been i t ist t tin number III filing of importance to 11 I li i > Uctl said Id ka pr I I j horse lf against be surpi iy letting lie lids rm Htlt bl u that was all nk h i lowered 1 desire eft figc m thou gall ar Al nahl tho Greek No doubt you remember h man an TOIlI for whom 1 i OU glitter and Whom you had 1 tier la you wore arrested loii I > Harnka pronounced U Ul uuMy ami nodded Yon I it turn well Hn known t 111 ii whom I seek and ho wrote the address for me I have I I It You will take me there In your ship and I shall find him If you find him what shall you say to him Logotheti asked Few words These perhaps You left mo to die but I am not dead I nm here Through me you are a rich great man The rubles are my mar tinge portion which you have taken Now you must be my husband That Is all Few words It is your right Logothetl answered an-swered Hut he will not marry you Then he shall die replied Haraka as quietly as If she were saying that he should go for a walk If you kill him the laws of that country may take your life objected the Greek That will be my portion the girl answered with profound indifference You only have one life Logothet observed It is yours to throw away Hut limo man you seek Is not In that country Van Torp has telegraphed me that he is much nearer Neverthe less If you mean to kill him I will not take you to him as I Intended to do Ilarakas face had changed though she had been determined not to betray be-tray surprise at anything he said she turned to him and fixed her eyes on his and he saw her lashes quiver You will tell me where he is she I said anxiously If you will not take me I will go alone with Spiro I have been in many countries with no other help I can go there also where he is You will toll me Not If you mean to murder him I said Logotheti and she saw that he I was In earnest Hut If ho will not he my husband what can I do If I do not kill him Sho asked the question In evident good faith If I were you I should make him share the rubles and the money with would leave him to you and then I ea himself I Hut you do not understand Ha raka protested lie Is young he Is I beautiful he Is rich Ho will take I some other woman for his wife If 1 leavo him You see he must die 1 there Is no other way If be will not U hy lo I marry me It Is his portion II I across talk Have I not come you 1 I Samark the world from the Altai by I and numb Titlls as far as England to find him and marry him Is It nothing j noth-ing that I have done a Tartar girl j friend but a hag of atomic with no J thief precious stones that any strong might have taken from mo Is the travel nothing danger nothing The Is It nothing that 1 have gone uboutl like a shameless one with my face uncovered dressed In mans clothe beautiful That 1 have cut my hair my too black hair Is that as nothing That I have been In an English prison 1 thief called n That I have been have suffered all UIIMO things to Hnd and to him at lIst lllm timid If I como husband shall hu ho will not bo my lira and take another woman You It Is true but you are a great man You arc only n do not understand Frank after all That little maid you have brought for me would understand under-stand mo bettor though she has been taught for six years by Christians She Is a good girl She says that In all that time she has never once forgotten for-gotten to say the lallheh three times a day and to say el hanulu Illah to herself after she has eaten 1 She would understand I know sho would Hut you never The exquisite little aquiline features fea-tures wore a look of unutterable contempt con-tempt If I were you said Logothotl smiling I would not tell her what you are going to do You see cried Uaraka almost angrily an-grily You do not understand A servant I Shall I tell my heart to my handmaid and my secret thoughts to a hired man I tell you because you are a friend though you have no understanding un-derstanding of us My father feeds many flocks and has many bondmen I and bondwomen whom he beats when I It pleases him and can put to death If he likes He also knows tilt mine of rubles as his father did before him and when he desires gold he I takes one to Tashkent or even to Samarkand a long journey and sells it to the Russians Ho Is a great man If he would bring a camel bag full of precious stones to Europe ho could be one of the greatest men In the world And you think that my fathers daughter would open her heart to one of her servants I said well that you do not understand Logothetl looked quietly at the slim young thing In a readymade blue serge frock who said such things as a Lady Clara Vero do Vere would scarcely dare to say above her breath In these democratic days and he watched the noble little features and the small white hands that had comedown come-down to her through generations of chieftains since the days when the primeval shepherds cf tho world counted the stars In the plains of Kaf KafHe He himself with his long Greek descent de-scent was an aristocrat to tho marrow mar-row and smiled at the claims of men who traced their families back to the Crusaders With the help of a legend or two and half a myth he could almost al-most make himself a far descendant of the Tyndaridae But what was that compared with the pedigree of the lit tie thing In a blue serge frock Her race went back to a time before Heslod before Homer to a dato that might be found In the annals of Egypt hut nowhere else in all the dim tradi I lions of human history No he said after a long pause I begin to understand You had not told mo that your father was a great man and that his sires before him had joined hand to hand from tho hand of Adam himself This polite speech delivered In his best Tartar though with sundry Turkish Turk-ish terminations and accents somewhat some-what mollified Haraka and she pushed her little head backwards and upwards up-wards against the top of the deck chair as If she was drawing herself up with pride Also not bolng used to European skirts she stuck out ono tiny foot a little further across the other as she stretched herself and sho Indiscreetly showed a pale yellow silk ankle round which she could have easily made her thumb meet her second finger Ixjgotheti glanced at it You will never understand sho said but her tone had relented ojit she made a concession If you will takemo to him and if I he will not belay be-lay husband I will let Splro kill him That might be better Logothetl I answered with extreme gravity for he I was quite sure that Spiro would never kill anybody If you will take an oath which I shall dictate and swear to let Splro do It I will take you to the man you seek What must be must be Haraka said In a tone of resignation When he Is dead Spiro can also kill I me and take the rubles and the money That would ho a pity observed the Greek thoughtfully Why a pity It will bo my portion por-tion I will not kill myself because then 1 should go to helllire but Sp Ito can do It very well Why should I still live then llecauso you are young and beautiful beau-tiful and rich enough to be very happy hap-py Do you never look at your face In the mirror The eyes of Haraka are like the pools of paradise when tho moon rose upon them the first time her waist Is us1 slender as a young willow sapling that bends to the breath of a spring breeze her mouth is a dark rose from Gulistan = Hut Ranks Interrupted him with a fvlnt smile You speak emptiness sho said quietly What is the oath that I may swear it Shall I take Allah and the prophet and the Angel Israllt to witness that I will keep my word Shall I prick my hand and lot the II I I drops fall Into your two hands that iOu i What shall I you may drink them do and say I am ready You must swear an oath that my i fathers swore before thero were Chris tiaras or Mussulmen In tho world I when tho old gods wore still great Speak I will repeat any words you like Is It a very solemn oath It Is the most solemn that over i was sworn for it Is tho oath of the gods themselves I shall glvo It to you slowly and you must try to pro nuance It right word by word holding i out your hands like this with the I palms downwards I I 111m ready said Ilru aka doing as he bade hor J He quoted In Greek the oath that I = i llypnos dictates to hem In the Iliad and Haraka repeated each word pronouncing as well ns she could 1 swear by the Inviolable water of tho Styx and I lay ono hand upon tho allnourishing earth the other on the sparkling sea that all the gods below may be our witnesses even they that stand round about Kronos Thus 1 swear As he had anticipated Haraka was much more Impressed by the Importance i Im-portance of the words she did not understand un-derstand than If she had bound herself her-self by any oath familiar to her I am sorry she said but what Is done Is done and you would have It so She pressed her hand gently to her left aide and felt tho long steel bodkin bod-kin and sighed regretfully You have sworn an oath that no man would dare to break said Logo thetl solemnly A man would rather rath-er kill pigs on the graves of his father fa-ther and bin mother than break It 1 shall keep my word Only take me quickly where I would be Logothotl produced a whistle from his pocket and blow on It and a quartermaster quar-termaster answered the call and was sent for the captain who camo In a few moments Head her about for Jersey and Curterots captain said the owner The sea Is as Hat as a board and we will laud there You can go on to time Mediterranean without coaling can you not The captain said he could coal at Gibraltar If necessary Then take her to Naples please and wait for Instructions Haraka understood nothing but within two minutes sho saw that tho yacht was changing her course for the afternoon sun was all at onco pouring in on the deck just beyond the end of her chair She was satisfied satis-fied and nodded her approval When shall we reach that place she asked lazily and she turned her face to Logothetl I Allah knows he answered gravely She hud been so well used to hearIng hear-Ing that answer to all sorts of questions ques-tions since she had been a child that she thought nothing of It anil waited awhile before speaking again Her eyes studied the mans face almost unconsciously He now wore a fez Instead of a yachting cap and it changed his expression lie no longer looked In the least like a European The handsome red felt glowed like blood In the evening light and the long black silk tassel hung backwards with a dashing air Phone was something some-thing about him that reminded Ha raka of Saad and Saad had been a handsome man even In her eyes until un-til the traveler had come to her fathers fa-thers house with his blue eyes and golden beard Hut Sand had only seen her unveiled face once and that was the last thing he saw whop tho ball from the Mauser wont through his forehead I mean she asked after sometime some-time shall wo bo there tomorrow or the next day I see no land on this side Is there any on the other No Logothetl answered there Is no land near Perhaps far off we might see a small Island Is that tho place Haraka begun to bo Interested at last Tho place is far away You must have patience All hurry comes from Satan I am not impatient the girl an I swored mildly I nm glad to rest In your ship for I was very tired more tired than I ever was when I was a i child and used to climb up the foothills foot-hills to see A till better It Is good to be In your ship for a while and after aft-er that what shall be will be It Is Allah that knows That Is the truth responded tho Greek Allah knows I said so just now Hut I will tell you what I have decided If you will listen I listen II Is better that you should rest several days after all your weariness weari-ness and tho man you seek will not run away for he does not know that you arc so near Hut ho may take another woman Haraka l objected growing earnest at once Perhaps he has already Then there will be two Instead of one Spiro said Logothetl with perfect truth would as soon kill two as one I am sure for he Is a good servant It will be the same to him You call mo a great man and a king I am not a king for I have no kingdom though some kingdoms would like to have as much ready money as I Hut here on the ship I am the master not only because It Is mine and because I choose to command but because tho men are bound by SPngllsh law to I obey me and If they should refuse and overpower mile and take my ship I where I did not wish to go the laws i of all nations would give mo tho right to put them all into prison at onco for a long limo Therefore when I say Go to n certain place they take the ship there according to their knowledge for they aro trained to that business and can guldo tho vessel towards any place In the world though they cannot see land till they reach It Do you understand all these things I understand Haraka answered smiling Hut I am not bound to obey you and at least 1 can beg you to do what I ask and I think you will do It Her voice grow suddenly soft and almost tender for though she was only a Tartar girl and very young and slim she was u woman Eve had 111 I T27isr 11H7 1i i h i 1ft Ffi S f Mfr jL J 1 f1 7 l 11 IA eJ r 1 1 a 7I7 JYi 7 f You Are Wise as Well as Great Baraka Said t not had long cxpcrlonco of talking when she explained to Adam tho I properties oV apples LogothctI answered her smile and her tone I shall do what you ask me but I shall do It slowly rather than quickly quick-ly because that will be better for you In the end If we hail gone on us wo were going wo should have got to land tonight but to a wretched little town from which we should have had to take a night train hot and dirty and dusty all tho way to Paris That would not help you to rest would It Oh no I wish to sleep again In your ship once twice till I cannot sleep any more Then you will take mo to the place That Is what you shall do To that end I gave orders this afternoon You are wise us well as great Haruka said They left tho rail and walked slowly forwuid side by side without speaking speak-ing and Logothutl told himself how utterly happy ho should bo If Itaraka could turn Into Margaret and bo walkIng walk-Ing with him there yet something answered an-swered him that since she was not by I his side he was not to be pitied for the company of a lovely Tartar girl whose language ho could understand and even speak tolerably and whew the llrst voice observed rather drily that Margaret would surely think that he ought to feel very miserable the second voice told him to take the goods the gods sent him and bo grateful grate-ful and this little antlphono of Ormud and Ahrlman went on for some time till It occurred to him to stop the duo by explaining to Itaraka how a European girl would probably slip her arm or at least her hand through the arm of tho man with whom she was walking on the deck of a yacht because there was generally a little motion at sea and she would like to steady herself and s s ben there was none there ought to be and sho would do the same thing by force of habit Hut Huraka looked at such behavior be-havior quite differently That would bo a sort of dance she said I am not a dancing girl I have seen men and women dancing together both Itusslaiis In Samarkand and other people In France It Is disgusting dis-gusting I would rather go unveiled among my own people Which may Allah forbid answered an-swered Logothetl devoutly Hut whero thero are Englishmen Allah does nothing the women go without veils and the boys and girls dance together to-gether I have done worse said Haraka for I havo dressed as a man and If awoman did that among my people she would bo stoned to death and not buried My people will never know what I havo done since I got away from them alive But ho thought ho was leaving me thoro to die Surely I cannot BOO why you wish to marry a man who robbed you and tried to compass your death I can I understand that you should dream of killing him and he deserves to be burnt alive but why you should wish ii z = to marry him Is known to tho wisdom I of tho blessed ones You never saw him Huraka answered an-swered with perfect simplicity Ho Is a beautiful man his beard Is like the rays of the morning sun on a ripo cornfield His eyes are bright as an eagles but blue as sapphires Ho Is much taller and bigger und stronger that you are Do you not see why I want him for a husband Why did ho not deslro ino for his wife Am I i I crooked am I blinded by the smallpox small-pox or have I six lingers on both hands and a hump on my shoulder like tho Witch of Altai Was my portion por-tion a cotton shift one brass bangle and a horn comb for my hair I gavo him the riches of the world to take me and ho would not I do not understand un-derstand i Am 1 an evil sight In a mans eyes Tell mo tho truth for you are a friend You are good to see Logothetl answered stopping and pretending to examine her face critically as she stood and 1 faced him I do not desire you to speak for yourself returned 1 Haraka I wish you to speak for any man since I gc about unveiled and any man may see me What would 1 they say In the street If they saw mo now as n wont an That is what I must know for he Is a Frank and he will judge me a the Franks judge when he sees me What will he sarI Shall I speak us a Frank Or at I they speak In Constantinople Speak as he would speak I pray j Hut speak the truth I take Allah to witness that I speah tho truth Logotheti answered II I had hover seen you and If I wort walking In the Great Garden in London i Lon-don and 1 I met you by the bank of the river I should say that you wore the prettiest dark girl in England but i that I should 1 like to see you In a beautiful Ferlnghl hat and tho best t frock that could be made In Purls Darukas face was troubled and slu 1 I looked Into l his eyes anxiously ri I understand she said Hoforo I meet him I must have more clothes many beautiful new dresses It war shameless but it was easy to dress as a man after I had learned for II was always tho sumo tho difference nits n-its three buttons or four buttons 01 a high hat or a little hat not much Also time Forinchi men button their r garments ns tho Mussulmans do the left over tho right but I often set their womens coats buttoned hue i Hindus Why Is this Have UK women another religion than tin mon It Is very strange hogothoti laughed for ho had reullj never is deed tho rather singular fact i which had struck the how Asiatic tl once TO UK CONTINUED |